Wireless Routers

Wireless Router is a network device which forwards information like the normal routers and also performs the function of wireless access point which enables networking between wireless computers and also connects to a wired network. Wireless routers are devices which connect many wired or wireless networks together.

Advantages

Wireless routers can be used to connect more than one computer in a particular area.

Wireless routers help in avoiding the inconvenience of re-wiring if you want to move your computer from one corner of the house to the other corner.

Even if internet connection is shared, wireless routers provide good performance.

Though wireless routers are more expensive than the wired routers, the mobility it provides is a huge advantage.

Wireless routers can also filter or regulate the incoming or outgoing traffic by keeping a check on the IP addresses of senders and receivers.

How a Wireless Router Functions

In technical terms, router, be it wired or wireless, functions like a layer 3 gateway i.e. that it connects various networks and then it operates at the network layer of the OSI model.

Wireless routers operate either in wired Local Area Network (LAN), wireless LAN or a network which is a mixture of wired and wireless. Most of the wireless routers have features like LAN ports, Wide Area Network (WAN) ports, which is used in connecting to a wider area network, and wireless antennae, which helps in connecting with wireless devices like wireless access points, wireless repeaters and wireless bridges.

Wireless router is used by wireless devices as their hub while mini-LAN, which is present in the router, is connected as a single device to the remaining LAN. Wireless routers can function both in a point-to-point mode and point-to-multipoint mode. Wireless devices must be set to the same service set identifier and radio channel to which the wireless router is connected.

Most of the networkers, especially those at home, use Internet Protocol (IP) wired or wireless routers since IP is the most common OSI network layer protocol. An IP router like DSL or broadband router joins the LAN to the WAN of the network at home.